How many teachers do they need? I read one of the posts which said they have some sort of 'understanding'.

QU should facilitate the transfer of some teachers to this school (which I just saw yesterday when I was cruisiing around town - how Doha has changed from my day). This would be a solution for some, especially the American teachers if Americans are what they hire. QU should definitely allow teachers to resign without penalty if they find another job even if it is past the resignation notice time. That would be the decent thing to do under the circumstances.

It is my understanding that roundtrip airfare is paid for CCQ employees to and from Houston. If CCQ employees want to go to another place besides Houston, it is at their own expense. This may be true for shipping personal goods as well so that CCQ employees pay to ship what they are taking to Houston. CCQ then pays for these goods to be air shipped to and from
Qatar.

As one clarification, jews are not prohibited from teaching in Qatar (not sure about HCC/CCQ but I doubt if either ask about religion in the employment process - and most, if agnostic, atheist, bhuddist or hindi just tick the Christian box if they want the job and that box is included on any official forms).

I've known any number of the above working and living happily in Qatar and the rest of the GCC - they are just not making an issue of their religion. The worst religious "offenders" and the ones who usually end up in trouble with authorities in my experience are Christians who proselytise, this latter practice being illegal in all GCC countries.

The actual private practice of the Christian faith (or the Jewish faith for that matter) are not illegal (and several countries' leaders have set aside areas for churches to be built - no synagogues that I've heard of) as followers of Islam, Judaism and Christianity are all considered people of the book.

If one feels the need to make a point about their religious affiliations when applying for work in the GCC then those people are probably better suited to jobs elsewhere in the world - is it discrimination? Probably to a certain extent, but then I watch the news from US TV stations and I wonder, are we in the West really all that much better?

It is my understanding that roundtrip airfare is paid for CCQ employees to and from Houston. If CCQ employees want to go to another place besides Houston, it is at their own expense. This may be true for shipping personal goods as well so that CCQ employees pay to ship what they are taking to Houston. CCQ then pays for these goods to be air shipped to and from
Qatar.

They said it's just the mileage that counts. You can go anywhere else within the mileage allocated.

This doesn't sound too good. Nice visit and all but this seems like CCQ may be going the QU way. From what I heard HCC chose that madwoman dean not the Qatar gov't according to a friend's friend who worked here. And what's this about visa issues? Maybe I'd better stay where I am.

Quote:

Houston Community College Struggles With Project in Qatar
February 6, 2012, 11:20 am Chronicle of Higher Education.

Houston Community College’s effort to build and help operate a community college in Qatar has been racked by misunderstandings with Qatari officials and other problems, reports the Houston Chronicle. According to e-mails and internal documents obtained by the newspaper, the Community College of Qatar, which opened for classes in 2010, is teaching female and male students separately, contrary to the contract the Houston institution signed; has faced accreditation issues with students unable to receive Houston Community College credit for courses as originally promised; and has been problematic for visiting American faculty members, who have complained of visa issues and other logistical problems of working in the Persian Gulf kingdom.In November a dean chosen by the Qatari government was replaced by a Houston Community College official. The Houston college’s deputy chancellor said that the problems have been fixed and that they were part of the usual challenges of working abroad.

Of course HCC's take on it is always put a spin to it, What one does not not know can not hurt, here is HCC on Qatar. The media and blogs are having a field day with the "Crazy College of Qatar". Here is the articulation agreement that the CCQ (Crazy College of Qatar) signed with Qatar University. Take the news from over there for what it is, completely controlled by the government. At least here our media is controlled by the dollar and HCC spends more money on advertising than they do in providing programs that excel.

My take on this is that Art and Mary are at their best when they are explaining their failures which are often but normally hidden. If one had followed their comments through this episode one would not have come away with what HCC is now stating. I maintain that HCC has lost money in Art and Mary's little venture to the Middle East.

Other serious allegations have been brought by other employees who found themselves quickly transferred when they pointed out improper movement of money within various accounts. People at Main know that if they want to keep their jobs they have to keep their tongues from wagging. There are exceptions if one knows too much and one has it documented they may get mad at you but they will transfer you to a better paying position to keep one from talking and going to the police.